Associate Professor Annie Mitchellhttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/Recent works by Associate Professor Annie Mitchellen-usCopyright (c) 2019 All rights reserved.Mon, 01 Jan 2018 08:00:00 +00003600Seven Steps to Heaven: Time and Tide in 21st Century Contemporary Music Higher Educationhttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/19/<p><em>Throughout the time</em><strong><em> </em></strong><em>of my teaching career, the tide</em><strong><em> </em></strong><em>has exposed changes in the nature of music, students and music education. This paper discusses teaching and learning in contemporary music at seven critical stages of 21<sup>st</sup> century music education:</em><br /><em>i) diverse types of undergraduate learners </em><br /><em>ii) teaching traditional classical repertoire and</em> <em>skills</em><br /><em> to contemporary music students</em><br /><em>iii) transitioning undergraduates through pre-service</em><br /><em> teaching into the workforce</em><br /><em>iv) supervisory pedagogy for creative work higher</em><br /><em> degree research models</em><br /><em>v) upskilling established teachers in musical </em><br /><em> practice and pedagogy</em><br /><em>vi) professional development for adult community</em><br /><em> musicians</em><br /><em>vii) disseminating learning back into music and</em><br /><em> teacher education.</em><br /><em>Constant elements in this landscape are musicianship, practice, creativity, employment, aesthetic expression and personal fulfilment. Shifting sands include characteristics of learners, pedagogy, delivery, technology, industry trends, and learning through consecutive career stages. The final scenario addresses challenges for musicians and teachers to maintain their creative practice through self-directed lifelong learning.</em></p>
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Mon, 01 Jan 2018 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/19/Journal articlesFrom fairy frock to tea towel...and thanks for the Land Rover!https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/17/This paper reports on a research project entitled Conducting, musical direction and performance in community music ensembles and their influence on pedagogy. The project aims to investigate methods and identify best practices of leadership, conducting and musical direction employed in community music ensembles. It also aims to evaluate the benefits of participation in community music ensembles, particularly how that influence musicians’ performance and their music teaching practices. This research project studies three community orchestras and one big band, of which I am, or have recently been, a member. The research employs multiple qualitative methods: interviews with the conductor/musical director of each ensemble, surveys of musicians in each ensemble through a questionnaire, and focus group discussions with the students of a third year university Ensemble Direction and Arranging subject I teach. Case study observation has also been conducted during my participation as double bassist or pianist in each concert series, and reported through evocative narrative autoethnography. Implications for music education include increased awareness and understanding of the influence of community music participation on music teaching and the integration of good musical direction and performance practices into pedagogy. The research findings will inform university music and music/education curricula and can be applied to implement effective teaching strategies in the development of vocational skills of musical leadership, conducting, musical direction and ensemble performance. This should facilitate the transition for graduates into professionals like secondary school teachers, conductors of community music ensembles and musical directors of their own bands.Fri, 01 Jan 2016 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/17/ConferencesNew wine in old bottles: aligning curricula, pedagogy and assessment through creative practice in classical and contemporary musichttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/7/New Wine in Old Bottles investigates the alignment of curricula, pedagogy and assessment in theMusic Education major of Southern Cross University’s Bachelor of Contemporary Music degree through case studies of five assessment artefacts. Old Bottles refers to classical music theory, aural training, composition, conducting and performance traditions that underpin contemporary music composition, arranging, musicianship, ensemble and educational practices. New Wine is the contemporary repertoire and strategies used to teach these skills, the assessment instruments and processes measuring the acquisition of curriculum learning objectives, and their alignment to national Creative and Performing Arts Threshold Learning Outcomes (CAPA TLOs). Case studies include the composition of a fugue or sonata, orchestration of Arthur’s Theme (Allen, Bacharach, Bayer Sager and Cross, 1989), performance of a fugal arrangement of Eleanor Rigby (McCartney and Lennon, 1966), and performance of a four-part choral arrangement of Angel (McLachlan, 1997). After studying these units, students undertook a school practicum where they applied the knowledge and skills gained from these activities. This chapter addresses the themes of assessment practices in conservatoire settings, assessment artefacts, self- and peer assessment and the alignment of assessment, curricula and pedagogical practices.Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/7/Book chaptersNurturing the olive tree: scaffolding jazz pedagogy through spiral curricula from conservatoire to community and classroomhttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/9/<p>“Nurturing the olive tree: Scaffolding jazz pedagogy through spiral curricula from conservatoire to community and classroom” traces music education curricula in a regional Australian university through undergraduate studies in jazz and contemporary music, to its application in pre-service teacher training, performance in professional and community music practice, dissemination through secondary music education provision, and its refinement when re-introduced to the conservatoire. The paper aligns with the International Society for Music Education’s (ISME’s) “Listening to the Musical Diversity of the World” Conference aims to “contribute with the education of music teachers, of artists and of researchers”, and responds to ISME’s Jazz Special Interest Group’s objectives to provide information for educators on how to teach jazz, inform ISME members about jazz and provide leadership in jazz. This research discusses a scaffold of jazz theory and musicianship underpinning the contemporary music education program, its extension in arranging and performance, practical skill development through ensemble direction and conducting, application of these skills and knowledge in teacher training; and the associated pedagogy. The research investigates the extension of these skills and knowledge through graduates’ engagement in professional practice and community music, which are integrated into their own pedagogy. Allegory demonstrates the spiral curricula through the growth of an olive tree. The journey of Basia Trzetrzelewska’s “An Olive Tree” specifically illustrates this concept, through its use as an educational resource for aural analysis to develop musicianship, a compositional study for big band arranging, and performance repertoire for a professional big band. Music education pedagogy prepares the soil, the aim of this pedagogy is attaining graduate attributes – the established olive grove. Practice-based research methodology designs the garden. Musical seeds are planted through jazz theory studies and fertilised by musicianship training. The olive tree yields buds (composition and arranging) which flower through musical performance. The discipline required in musical direction and conducting is represented as pruning to promote healthy growth. Pre-service music teacher education resembles training the shoots. A bountiful harvest of professional practice and community music engagement ensues, which is shared as musical practice and pedagogy disseminates throughout the community. Implications for music education are realised through graduates working in teaching vocations who plant new crops. Creating new knowledge and repertoire through practice-based research shakes the tree of the music education discipline. The conclusion recommends embracing these opportunities for lifelong learning, teaching and creative fulfilment.</p>
Wed, 01 Jan 2014 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/9/ConferencesHip to be square: where the street meets academehttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/5/The message of Huey Lewis and the News’ song “Hip to be Square” resonates through the career decisions facing professional musicians who enter the formal music education establishment; i.e. from the street to the academy. This paper, “Hip to be square: Where the street meets academe,” aligns with CEPROM’s seminar theme “Relevance and reform in the education of professional musicians” and sub-themes of institutional cultures and leadership, and becoming and being a musician. The research addresses issues of relevance: of higher degrees to professional musicians, of doctorates in music to creative industry professions, of professional musicians to academia; and issues of reform: research philosophy and practice, research paradigms to include creative works, of program design, curricula and pedagogy. This research reports on the renewal of the PhD degree at an Australian regional university, recently relaunched with a focus on creative work/exegetical formats. Seven case studies illustrate different identities and careers of musicians, their creative knowledge and skills, aptitudes for experiential learning and knowledge transfer, and effects of participation in higher education on their well-being. The transferability of attributes of highly educated professional musicians to creative industries and knowledge economies provides a global perspective on the relevance of education for professional musicians.Wed, 01 Jan 2014 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/5/ConferencesParonella Park: music, migration and the tropical exotichttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/12/Tue, 01 Jan 2013 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/12/Journal articlesParonella Park: the dreams continueshttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/11/Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/11/ConferencesRaising the barhttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/13/Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/13/ConferencesEducation in practical music through group teachinghttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/4/This paper relates to the International Society for Music Education (ISME) mission of fostering global understanding among the world’s educators by sharing ideas about issues within music education. The paper presents the context, methodology, activities and outcomes of changes made to Southern Cross University’s Bachelor of Contemporary Music curricula, which involved replacing the delivery of individual practical music lessons with group classes in its first year program. The practical music component of the first year of this degree is delivered through the units Music Practice I and Music Practice II, with specialisations in guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and voice. This research project was conducted in two phases: i) the implementation of the revised Bachelor of Contemporary Music curricula, and ii) an action research case study of the effects of the new curricula on teaching and learning practices in music performance education. The paper identifies significant pedagogical challenges and opportunities arising from teaching practical music through group classes, analyses best practice in teaching strategies employed for group music teaching and describes the learning styles of a diverse cohort of students. It also discusses learning environments most productive in this method of delivery, highlights key motivational factors and resources that contribute to student development, and identifies the assessment instruments most suitable for group classes. The quality of delivery of the practical music component of the Contemporary Music degree through this format has profound educational implications as this forms a significant component of the students’ first year experience. The paper reports on learning outcomes of teaching music practice through group classes based on feedback provided by studio teachers and students, evaluates the pedagogical implications for music education and concludes with recommendations on the best provision for practical music education through group classes and ways to improve its delivery.Sat, 01 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/4/Journal articlesEducation in practical music through group teachinghttps://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/3/This paper related to the International Society for Music Education (ISME) mission of fostering global understanding among the world's educators by sharing ideas about issues within music education. The paper presented the context, methodology, activities and outcomes of changes made to Southern Cross University's Bachelor of Contemporary Music curricula, which involved replacing the delivery of individual practical music lessons with group classes in its first year program. The practical music component of the first year of this degree was delivered through the units Music Practice I and Music Practice II, with specializations in guitar, bass, keyboards, drums and voice. This research project was conducted in two phases: the implementation of the revised Bachelor of Contemporary Music curricula; and an action research case study of the effects of the new curricula on teaching and learning practices in music performance education. The paper identified significant pedagogical challenges and opportunities arising from teaching practical music through group classes, analyzed best practice in teaching strategies employed for group music teaching and described the learning styles of a diverse cohort of students. It also discussed learning environments most productive in this method of delivery, highlighted key motivational factors and resources that contribute to student development, and identified the assessment instruments most suitable for group classes. The quality of the delivery of the practical music component of the Contemporary Music degree through this format had profound educational implications as this forms a significant component of the students' first year experience. the paper reported on learning outcomes of teaching music practice through group classes based on feedback provided by studio teachers and students, evaluated the pedagogical implications for music education and concluded with recommendations on the best provision for practical music education through group classes and ways to improve its delivery.Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:00:00 +0000https://works.bepress.com/annie_mitchell/3/Conferences